Binding of the Years (new fire ceremony)
Binding of the Years (new fire ceremony) : Among the Mexica, this ritual ceremony took place outside of Tenochtitlán when the solar and the divinatory calendars both ended on the same day. This coincided with the rising of the Pleiades and the beginning of the dry season. It was a pre-Conquest Nahua ceremony that was performed every 52 years, and it was celebrated to give new life to the Sun so that it could travel its celestial path for yet another span of 52 years.
The fires in all of the area were extinguished, and a new fire was set in the chest of a sacrificial offering whose heart had been taken out. If there was any difficulty starting the fire, it was feared that a new Sun would not be born and everyone would be eaten alive during the night. When the fire was finally lit, a runner took it to Tenochtitlán, where a new fire was also lit, and then on to other temples, and from these individual household hearths were relit.
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SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow – Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante